Manufacture oe plate and window glass



" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TERENCE CLARK, F PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MANUFACTURE OF PLATE AND WINDOW GLASS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,994, dated June 8, 1852.

' erence being had to the annexed drawings,

forming part of this specification, wherein--u Figure 1 is a perspective view of my machine for rolling glass; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal lvertical section of my rolling machine; Fig. 3 is a representation of the truck for receiving the plate glass as it leaves t-he -f rolls; Fig. 4.- is an inverted view of the truck showing the rack work underneath; Fig. 5 is an inverted view of the truck, with part of the bottom removed to show hovi7 it is packed between the ribs and braceshwith clay; Fig. 6 is a representation of the inter- .nal arrangement of ribs and braces in the truck; Fig. 7 is a view of the fork used for turning the plate glass; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the fire polishing oven; Fig. 9

y is a horizontal section of the oven through the openings A A showing the truck in place and Fig. 10 is a transverse vertical section of the oven through the openings A A showing the truck in place.

All the similar parts in the several figures are marked with the same letters for convenience of reference.

My invention consists first in a new and improved combination of machinery for rolling plate glass, and secondly for a new and improved construction of an oven for re polishing the plates or sheets of glass.

My machine for rollingihe glass is represented in perspective in Fig. l.

A frame work, a, a, made of iron or wood, supports .the heavy chilled iron rollers, b, b which'lie horizontally across the machine and parallel to each other; each roller carries at one end a cog-wheel, r, r', with long teeth, so arranged that the pitch line of the teeth is outside of the circumference of the rollers in order that these two cog-wheels may gear into each other when the circumferences of the rollers are about lg of an inch apart and so as to admit of the rollers being separated about one inch apart without being put out of gear. These rollers,

being hollow, have end pieces c, c secured into them which are perforated with four or five holesjlarge enough to insert char- The distance between the roller, Z2, and the roller, b', may be varied by means of the set screws s which turn in the brackets f', and work against the journal blocks, e', pushing them nearer to, or drawing them farther from, the journal blocks, c, as may be required. The arrangement of brackets and screws is the same at each end of the roller, b', one end being concealed in the perspective View. Motion is given to the rollers by means of a pinion, p, which gears into the cog-wheel, 1', on the roller, b, work ing on an axis, g,A which is supported by uprights, it, h', which form part of the journal blocks, e, e. This axis is turned by hand with a crank, c, or by steam power communicated to the axis g in any ordinary manner. Two parallel grooves are cut around the circumference of each roll, (o, o, 0, 0-,) at the required distance apart for the sheet of glass to be rolled. These grooves receive `is rolled ofthe width fixed by the strips, z', c", and the same thickness as the distance that the rollers are set apart. If the glass rolled is window glass of the common thickpass between the rollers and will cool so 1 ness, say of an inch thick, or less, it will rapidly as to hang down without stretching so much as to impair its quality or vary its thickness; but as this is not the case with plate glass, it must not be allowed to hang down after it passes from the rollers, but

is received on a truck which passes under Athe rollers, as hereinafter described.

When plate glass is to be rolled, the rollers b, are placed the necessary distance f apart by turning the set screws marked, s. A railway truck, see Fig. 3, (the construction of which is hereinafter more particularly described) is placed on the track A A under the frame work entering at the end lnearest to the eye in Fig. l, the rack work 1G under the truck gearing into the pinion. IP. This pinion is on an axis, C, and is carried by th-e supporters, B, B. At the end of the axis, C, and outside the frame f from the rollers.

work is a pulley or drum D which connects by a band or rope 't with the large drum,

impels it slowly forward. The size of the;

drums and pinions are so regulated to correspond with the quantity of glass turned out by the rollers, that the truck' T passesV forward just fast enough to receive and carry olf the sheet of plate glass as it passes The rail ro-ad track A A on which the truck or trucks rest extends from the rolling machine to the oven Fig. 8, so t-hat when the truck has receivedl the sheet of plate glass, it is pushed'forward into the oven, orfif the oven is large enough to' receive morethan one truck, twoor more may be attached together, and all carrying the glass deposited on them by the rolling machine pushed forward to the oven.

The cars or trucks on which the glass lies as it passes .from the rollers are made of iron as represented in Figs. 3 and 4. The upper surface is highly polished, 'so as not to impair the surface of the glass. These cars maybe connected together by catches, F, F, or in any ordinary method, the rack work, G, underneath being so made as to gear with the pinion, P. The trucks used are braced internally'by cross pieces V V and ribs QJ v and theV spaces between the ribs and braces are packed with clay to prevent the truck from becoming too hot and warping. See Fig. v5.

-Fig. 8 represents a perspective view of the oven, one front only being shown, as the two fronts are alike. It is built of brick and consists of two long narrow chambers, arched over the top. Between these chambers is a narrow space, L, extending the v whole length and forming a flue for the flame and smoke. From the center of this space or flue rises the chimney, M. The only communication between this flue and the chambers is by means of small openings, Q, Q, vQ, in the inner wall of the chambers. These openings are a small distance from the floor of the oven, and run horizontally back one half of the length of the oven. There are no openings in the other wall of the Hue or space, L, immediately opposite those described, but each chamber has openings extending half way from the opposite front, so that where the openings on one side of the flue cease, they commence on the other side and extend along to the other front. See Fig. 9.

There are two furnaces at opposite corners of the oven, one for each chamber. The construction of one of the furnaces, N, and the flue holes in the front half of one of the chambers is shown in Fig. 8, by representingrpart of the arched roof and side removed. The railroad tracks A A are laid on the bottom Vof the oven to receive the trucks T with the glass. The ends of the oven are closed-by gates,H', H, sus ended on balance beams O ,02, O3, O, an counterpo-ised by weights, W, or by the center gates, R, R, as seen in Fig, 8.

The inner vwall S ofthe furnace, N,

y (which is similar in construction to the other furnace at' the opposite corner of the oven,`) are carried up perpendicularly to a height a little above the level of the'floor of the compartments, 4, and, 2, and then turns (see Fig. l0) horizontally at right angles so as to extend about half way over the furnace thus forming a lpartial covering toit, marked, vX. The llame and smoke from the furnace pass around this horizontal covering, X, and as they have noother outlet than the flue holes, Q, Q, etc., they pass down over the glass lying on the trucks, which are on the railway tracks, A, A, and out through these flue'holes into the space L, and thence up the chimney, M. The oen-V ter gates, A, R, divide each chamber into These 2, and 4, is similar, they both having furnaces and the flue holes in their inner walls, while compartments Nos. l, and 3, are also alike and have no furnaces and no flue holes y connecting them with the space, L.

Vhen the glass is rolled and placed on the trucks, they are pushed into compartment No. l; the gate, H, is then lowered, which raises the center gate, R, thus connecting the two compartments together. Compartment No. l, is not heated by the direct action of the fire, but being heated from No. 2, is a of more moderate temperature. The

glassA remains in No. 1, until warm enough to stand a greater degree of heat, and then 'ff the truck is pushed into No. 2, vby a pole passed through thev hole in the gate, H.

passes immediately over the surface of the Here the'heat is more intense, and the flame i glass, communicating a fire polish. When sufficiently polished, the balance beam, O2, is raised, which throws up the gate of compartment, No. 2, and the truck is passed into the open air. Here it stands till the glass is cool enough to be turned, which operation is performed with a fork (shown in Fig. 7,) which catches the sheet of glass by its edges. The lower side being then turned up, the truck is removed to the tracks which lead to compartment No. 3, which corresponds with No. 1, and therefore need not be more particularly described. It enters here and after being warmed up, it passes to compartment No. 4, where itis frepolished. -Thev glass having thus received a yfire polish, on both sides, is ready screws s for the purpose of regulating the Width and thickness of the sheet of glass.

3. The use of trucks for carrying off the sheets of glass as they pass from the rollers as aforesaid.

4. The combination and arrangement hereinbefore described of the gates, flues, and furnace in the construction of the polishing oven.

TER. CLARK. Witnesses:

WM. BAKEWELL, JOHN L. ARTHUR. 

